- Ron DeSantis said the charges against Trump distorted the 2024 Republican primaries
- “It sucked away a lot of oxygen,” said the candidate who ran a distant second
- But he said he is still the best candidate to beat Joe Biden next year
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis admitted on Thursday what everyone suspected during the Republican primaries: Donald Trump was not hampered by his multiple criminal charges.
The heat and noise surrounding this legal battle has made it harder for other candidates to break out, said DeSantis, who comes in a distant second to Trump.
“I would say if I could change one thing, I wish Trump had not been indicted on any of these things,” he said.
The former president is the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
The picture will become clear in January, when Iowa and New Hampshire will choose their preferred candidate.
Ron DeSantis admitted Thursday what everyone suspected during the Republican primaries: Donald Trump has been helped, not hindered, by his multiple criminal charges
But polls show Republicans remain loyal to Trump despite four criminal charges and the very real possibility that he will be convicted before Election Day in November.
DeSantis told the Christian Broadcasting Network that Republicans have rallied around the former president “ever since Alvin Bragg,” the Manhattan district attorney who filed an indictment in April, alleging Trump falsified business records.
“Someone like that perverts justice, which is bad, but I also think it perverted the primaries,” he said.
Because it made Trump stronger? he was asked.
“It's both of those things, but it's also… I think it just crowds out so many other things, and it sucks up a lot of oxygen,” he replied.
The Florida governor was well positioned to overtake Trump before he even entered the race. A landslide victory had earned him a second term in the governor's mansion, and his star was rising.
Polls early this year showed him trailing the former governor by about 10 points.
But Trump's lead widened after Bragg's indictment.
According to a rolling polling average from Real Clear Politics, Trump's lead is 52 points over DeSantis, who is locked in a battle with Nikki Haley for second place in the race.
person holds a sign with the mugshot of Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump, during a Trump rally in Durham, New Hampshire
His fall is not only due to Trump sucking the oxygen of publicity. His early focus on the “war on the woke” was blamed for alienating moderate voters, a disastrous online launch was ridiculed and he has failed to dominate televised debates with his rivals.
At the same time, tensions within an allied super PAC have spilled over into the public eye and generated negative headlines.
But DeSantis continues to argue that he is more electable than his biggest rival.
'It's a republic. It is not a monarchy,” he said.
'Everyone has the right to run.
“It's clear that Trump could win the primaries. I'm not convinced he can win the general… I am.'